Western Union’s Singing Telegram Makes a Modern Comeback

Monday

A new version of the service would allow users to send their own voices in messages via e-mail.

THE singing telegram, once a popular way to share birthday greetings and other congratulatory messages, is returning with a twist that reflects how such sharing now often takes place digitally.

The Western Union Company, which for decades offered singing telegrams as part of its mainstay telegram service, plans to revive them on Thursday on a microsite, or special Web site, wu-singingtelegram.com. This time, the audio missives will not be delivered in person or by phone, but through e-mails.

Also, the recipients of the new versions of singing telegrams will not hear Western Union employees or operators doubling as singers. Rather, in a nod to karaoke, they will hear the voices of the senders and professional performers who are chosen by the senders, working from templates.

The new singing telegrams, like many online activities, will be created, assembled and produced by users. (A video clip to be available on the microsite will walk would-be senders through a five-step process to make a singing telegram.)

Reflecting the global purview of Western Union, some performers will be American: Snoop Dogg and Timbaland. Others will offer an international flavor: Sunidhi Chauhan, who is Indian, and K’Naan, a Somali Canadian.

Ms. Chauhan and K’Naan also take part in a cause-marketing initiative from Western Union called “World of Betters,” which is part of a new worldwide image campaign for the Western Union brand that carries the theme “Moving money for better.” The agency that is creating the brand image ads, 180 Amsterdam, which is part of the 180 division of the Omnicom Group, is also working on the singing telegrams in its role as the global creative agency of record for Western Union.

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Western Union plans to offer free versions of the new singing telegrams through Dec. 31, then start charging in the new year. The goal, executives say, is for the fee to be comparable to the cost of downloading a song on a Web site like iTunes, perhaps $1.99 to $2.99.

“We’re bringing them back in a virtual and social way, in tune with the times,” said Diane Scott, who is executive vice president and chief marketing officer at Western Union in Englewood, Colo., as well as president of the Western Union Ventures unit.

The comeback is intended as an integral element of reintroducing the Western Union brand, she added, “building on our heritage and using the passion point of music to widen access for the brand.”

Western Union offered singing telegrams until 2006, when it was spun off from the First Data Corporation and focused on tasks like money transfers. The first singing telegram was delivered in 1933, when a Western Union operator named Lucille Lipps sang a birthday greeting to the actor and singer Rudy Vallee.

The idea to set telegrams to song was credited to George P. Oslin, then the public relations director for Western Union, who said he wanted consumers to associate telegrams with “fun” rather than bad news like death.

Before Western Union stopped offering singing telegrams, their popularity had dwindled; the company suspended the service from 1974 to 1980, when they returned with limited availability. The vacuum was filled by companies that send out employees, often wearing costumes, to sing, dance, deliver balloons or, sometimes, even strip.

The Western Union executives are not concerned that many, if not most, of today’s consumers are unfamiliar with telegrams, much less singing telegrams.

“If you’re a 22-year-old fan of Timbaland, you may not have a clear idea of what a telegram is,” acknowledged Marc Audrit, vice president for global creative excellence — yes, that is his title — at Western Union, who is based in Paris.

“That’s O.K.,” Mr. Audrit said, because “when something that may sound dusty, unknown, is presented with something fresh, up to date, there’s a very interesting tension, an electricity from a storytelling perspective that’s intriguing.”

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Ms. Scott said the concept was tested with and without the use of the term “singing telegram,” and it became apparent that there was “a lot more value and impact by keeping it.”

Although Ms. Scott would not disclose the budget for the campaign to revive the singing telegrams, or the overall “Moving money for better” campaign, she said Western Union usually spends about 3 to 3.5 percent of its annual revenue on marketing and advertising. With revenue of about $5 billion, that would total from $150 million to $175 million.

Western Union is “an important brand with a rich heritage,” said Chris Mendola, chairman at 180 Amsterdam, who recently moved to New York from Amsterdam to look at opportunities to expand 180 in markets like China, New York and South America.

And 180 will frequently find “some of the most fruitful seeds” for a contemporary campaign within a brand’s history, he added, citing clients like Adidas.

By giving consumers “an opportunity to create a new music experience,” Mr. Mendola said, the singing telegram will take Western Union “beyond the cluttered world of financial services.”

“We thought we could come up with a new name” for the service, he added, “but we felt, ‘Let’s tap that heritage and put new meaning to it.’ ”

Western Union will promote the new version of singing telegrams in social media like Facebook and Twitter. The performers are also expected to let fans know about their involvement in the revival.

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